Disagreeing
As I noted, the technique of disagreement is fundamental to the process of essay-writing. Here’s the template I promised for you to be able to do your homework assignment. (The template is by Cathy Birkenstein-Graff and it’s from Gerald Graff’s Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind, pg. 169 of the Yale paperback edition.)
TITLE: ________________________
The general argument made by AUTHOR X in his or her work, ____________________________, is that _____________________________________. More specifically, X argues that ________________________________________________________________________. She/He writes, “__________________.” In this passage, X is suggesting that ____________________________. In conclusion, X’s belief is that ______________________.
In my view, X is wrong/right, because___________________. More specifically, I believe that ___________________________________. For example, ____________________________. Although X might object that ___________________________, I maintain that ___________________________________. Therefore, I conclude that __________________________________________.
Use this template to do today’s homework.